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text by Bruce Springsteen

Uno, dos, tres, catorce. That translates as one, two, three, fourteen. That is the correct math for a rock and roll band. For in art and love and rock and roll, the whole had better equal much more than the sum of its parts, or else you're just rubbing two sticks together searching for fire. A great rock band searches for the same kind of combustible force that fueled the expansion of the universe after the big bang. You want the earth to shake and spit fire. You want the sky to split apart and for God to pour out.

It's embarrassing to want so much, and to expect so much from music, except sometimes it happens -- the Sun Sessions, Highway 61, Sgt. Peppers, the Band, Robert Johnson, Exile on Main Street, Born to Run -- whoops, I meant to leave that one out (laughter) -- the Sex Pistols, Aretha Franklin, the Clash, James Brown...the proud and public enemies it takes a nation of millions to hold back. This is music meant to take on not only the powers that be, but on a good day, the universe and God himself -- if he was listening. It's man's accountability, and U2 belongs on this list.

Bono: Born in the U.S.A., my arse. That man was born on the north side of Dublin. Irish. His mother was Irish. The poetry, the gift of the gab, isn't it obvious? In fact, I think he's tall for an Irishman.

It's an Irish occasion this evening. Paddy Sledge, the O'Jays -- they're a tribe from the west of Ireland. This is a bit of an Irish wedding. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a bit of an Irish wedding -- beautiful girls, beautiful frocks, fights in the bathrooms, managers and clients again, lawyers with bloody noses. It's an Irish wedding. It's a great occasion.

I even like it when it gets dirty. I've seen it get really dirty over the years here -- that's what rock and roll is, the sound of revenge. So make your enemies interesting, I would say, ladies and gentleman. But not tonight. When I, when we look out we don't see any enemies, we just see friends. And this country has taken this band into its bosom all the way. (applause) It's an amazing thing.

By Prof. R. Curtis, National University of Ireland

On April 26th 1986, the unthinkable occurred, the explosion of a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl and the worst man-made disaster of our time unfolded. The scale of the disaster, though initially shrouded in secrecy is now well known -- the 4-day struggle to contain the fire, the 30km exclusion zone, the evacuation of 15,000 people from their homes and the 2000 dead from radiation sickness. This calamitous event brought both radioactive and economic fallout on over 4 million men, women and children in Belarus,the Ukraine and Russia, most of whom are still living with the horrendous consequences16 years later.Today we honour two remarkable women -- Ali Hewson and Adi Roche - who have madean extraordinary contribution to environmental issues generally, and to the Children ofChernobyl specifically. Adi Roche is the founder and Executive Director of the ChernobylChildren Project, an Irish registered charity, and Ali Hewson is its active working patron.Tireless and seasoned campaigners for those innocent victims of the nuclear disaster,they continue through diverse aid programmes to improve survivors' health care intandem with raising awareness of the ever present danger of another such accident occurring, particularly close to our shores in Sellafield.